44: Chapter 44 Ning Liandie

"Willing to serve the Immortal Master!"

"The kindness of the Wang Family, we will remember it!"

"From now on, the affairs of the Wang Family are our affairs!"

Wang Chongyang stood on the stone platform, looking at the dense crowd kneeling below the platform.

The mountain wind blew his gray-white hair into a flutter. He was silent for a long time, then nodded slightly toward the crowd below, turned around to step onto his Flying Sword, and turned into a gray shadow that disappeared into the mountain fog.

When he turned around, a trace of extremely faint crystal glistened in the setting sun at the corner of his eye.

"In ten days, this old man will lecture on the Dao again, and I hope everyone can still come to show support."

The voice came from afar. The many Loose Cultivators looked far into the direction where Wang Chongyang left and shouted from the bottom of their hearts: "Definitely!"

Wang Yaozu stood under the old pine tree, never moving his place from beginning to end. Behind him, Wang Yaowu closed the booklet filled with names and spoke in a low voice.

"Eldest Brother, I have observed carefully these past few days. There are twelve people with high Aptitude and upright character."

Wang Yaozu did not look back: "Write it down. After the lecture on the Dao ends, send someone to contact them. Do not recruit them openly; first associate with them in the identity of Loose Cultivators. Once you figure out their background and if there are no problems, recruit them into the Family and list them as Family generals to integrate into our Wang Family."

Wang Yaowu grunted in acknowledgment and turned to make arrangements.

Wang Yaozu still stood under the pine tree, watching the batches of Loose Cultivators lingeringly walking down the mountain path.

His fingers gently stroked the rough bark of the old pine, and an unprecedented certainty surged in his heart.

What Shouren said that day in the side hall was turning into reality little by little. The invisible formation's Foundation had already been formed.

Naturally, the Wang Family could not recruit all Loose Cultivators as Family generals, but four hundred Cultivators were already a force that could not be ignored. Joining forces with the Wang Family to wipe out the Ning and Yan Families was more than enough.

Moreover, in today's scene, the Loose Cultivators had already begun to tie themselves to the Wang Family's chariot. Wang Shouren probably never dreamed that his original conception would now have such unexpected results.

"Although our Wang Family cannot let these Loose Cultivators risk their lives for the Wang Family for our own selfish interests, if there really is a day of crisis for the Wang Family, some of them will definitely fulfill today's promise. Shouren has played a good game of chess."

Thinking of his son, Wang Yaozu also looked toward the back mountain.

The back mountain, cave secret room: Wang Shouren was soaking in an iron barrel full of red medicinal liquid.

The terrifying might emanating from his entire body was much more formidable than when he was at the Sixth Stage of Qi Refining initially.

What was even more astonishing was that the medicinal liquid in the barrel rolled like magma, emitting steaming heat, while layers of white frost condensed on the surface of Wang Shouren's body.

Amidst this bizarre alternation of cold and heat, bursts of thunderous sounds erupted from within his body.

Wang Chongyang returned from lecturing on the Dao, and as soon as he returned to the back mountain, he immediately sensed the commotion in the cave secret room.

Out of concern, he released his Divine Sense to investigate, but was shaken back by a thunderclap inside the cave.

"Eh? It can actually shake back my Divine Sense. What kind of trick is Shouren up to? Could it be that the Cultivation Technique he spoke of truly has an extraordinary origin, treating Shouren as a mantle successor?"

The Cultivation Technique and successor Wang Chongyang mentioned were naturally the pretexts Wang Shouren had fabricated earlier.

But even if it was prevaricating words, Wang Chongyang had to take it seriously.

After pondering for a long time, he suddenly floated up and headed straight for the Family's treasury. A moment later, he turned back, except that his hand now had an extra Formation Plate and twelve Formation Flags.

"The Lesser Capital Heaven Twelve Breath-Masking Formation—even a Foundation Establishment Cultivator cannot investigate the situation inside. Protecting Rier should be enough."

But he still hadn't set his mind at ease. As if he thought of something else, a bead appeared in his hand.

"The heaven-covering bead is usually of no use. Go."

If the Lesser Capital Heaven Twelve Array was to make people unable to investigate Wang Shouren, then once the heaven-covering bead came out, it directly made people unable to even deduce anything related to Wang Shouren.

"This should be enough now."

A moment later, Wang Yaozu wore an expression as if his father had died, missing even one of his shoes, and flew in panic to the back mountain.

"Sixth Uncle, something big has happened."

"You are the Family Head, what are you panicking about?"

"I want to enter the secret room, Shouren's soul lamp has gone out! Huh? Where is the secret room? Where is Shouren?"

"Oh, this old man's hands were itchy, so I threw the heaven-covering bead on top of the secret room."

Xiaoshan County, the Ning Family.

Ning Shengli sat behind the desk, and after listening to Great Elder Great Elder Ning Shengkui finish reporting the situation of the lecture on the Dao, he was silent for a long time.

He had to admit that Wang Chongyang's move was indeed brilliant.

The Wang Family was already famous for its benevolence, and now with the reputation of preaching and bestowing grace added, its status among the Loose Cultivators of the Three Counties would be even harder to shake.

But Ning Shengli was able to sit in the position of the Ning Family Head for more than twenty years without falling; what he relied on was never following the trend.

"Loose Cultivators are Loose Cultivators after all." Ning Shengli picked up the tea cup and took a sip, his voice returning to its former composure.

"They are grateful to the Wang Family, at most running errands and passing messages for the Wang Family. When it really comes to resorting to weapons, will the Loose Cultivators risk their lives for the Wang Family? Dreaming. In this world, only Sects and aristocratic families are truly reliable backers."

He put down the tea cup and turned his gaze to a portrait hanging on the wall.

That was his eldest daughter, Ning Liandie.

The woman in the portrait was twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with a face like a silver plate and eyes like autumn water. She was dressed in a Baihua Sect Disciple uniform, with her clothes fluttering—truly living up to her name.

Great Elder Great Elder Ning Shengkui looked along his gaze, and a trace of radiance also welled up in his eyes.

A genuine smile appeared on the corner of Ning Shengli's mouth.

"The Wang Family has Wang Shouren, and my Ning Family has Ning Liandie. Ning Liandie has entered the Baihua Sect for two years, and has even formed a Dao Companion relationship with an Inner Sect Disciple. Today, I received a letter from the Baihua Sect saying that Ning Liandie's cultivation has reached the Peak of the Seventh Stage of Qi Refining."

"That Wang Shouren of the Wang Family has three Spiritual Roots and is still lingering at the Sixth Stage of Qi Refining at twenty years old."

"Ning Liandie will be able to impact the Eighth Stage of Qi Refining in another half a year and return home leaving the Sect with the identity of a Baihua Sect Disciple. By that time, I want to see what the Wang Family has to compare with my Ning Family."

"When Die'er enters the Inner Sect and has the Baihua Sect as a backer, my Ning Family is willing to spend a huge price to invite the Baihua Sect Elder to wipe out the entire Wang Family!"

Great Elder Great Elder Ning Shengkui cupped his hands and smiled: "The Family Head is far-sighted. How can the weight of an Inner Sect Disciple of the Baihua Sect compare to the lecture on the Dao of mere Loose Cultivators?"

"Wang Chongyang's lecture on the Dao merely gathered the hearts of hundreds of Loose Cultivators, whereas Young Miss Ning Liandie has the entire Baihua Sect standing behind her."

Ning Shengli nodded and thought in his heart, "Xishan, my son, after I wipe out the Wang Family, I will let Wang Shouren go down to accompany you."

Just as he was about to say something more, a burst of hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the study door.

A Family Disciple didn't even have time to knock on the door and directly pounced in, his face as pale as paper.

"Family Head, the soul lamps of all the people who went to investigate Young Master Xishan's cause of death have gone out."

These words were like a stone stirring up a thousand waves. Ning Shengli simply could not believe his own ears.

"What did you say? Say it again!"

"Dead, all dead, soul lamps are all extinguished. The Third Elder and eleven other clansmen, except for one named Ning Chuan, are all dead..."

The messenger stammered, finally finishing what he had to say, and then buried his head extremely low, not daring to look into the Family Head's eyes.

Ning Shengli's eyes were red. The Third Elder was a great Cultivator at the Eighth Stage of Qi Refining!

And that Ning Chuan—why had he never heard this name before?

"Who is Ning Chuan?"

Great Elder Great Elder Ning Shengkui: "Family Head, Ning Chuan is a collateral clansman with four Spiritual Roots and at the Fourth Stage of Qi Refining."

Thinking for a moment, he continued: "It shouldn't have been done by the Wang Family. These past few days, the Wang Family experts have all been at Lotus Pier, and our people are also mixed among those Loose Cultivators. The Wang Family's Late Stage Cultivators have not left the pier for days."

However, Ning Shengli said viciously: "Not leaving the pier does not mean there is no suspicion. I already suspected Xishan's death was related to their Wang Family, and the Third Elder and the others got into trouble because of investigating Xishan's cause of death. The Wang Family!"

His teeth were gnashing with a creaking sound. He turned around and picked up the paper and pen on the table.

"Ning Liandie, my daughter, everything is well at home, do not worry. If you have leisure, you can return home for a chat; your father misses you very much." (Clarification: 'my daughter' refers to the daughter)